Kafka is an intimate adaptation of two of Franz Kafka’s seminal works: Letter to His Father and The Metamorphosis. By interweaving a raw personal confession with a surreal narrative, the production reveals the inner fracture that shaped Kafka’s voice and his suffocating relationship with his father.

At its center there are two voices: Kafka, the son, writing a desperate letter to grasp the roots of his fear and self-doubt, and Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning as an insect, a grotesque image of alienation within his own home.

The adaptation creates a dialogue between father and son, text and body, the human and the estranged. The original music by Tomer Yizraely deepens the emotional texture, revealing Kafka not only as a literary icon, but as a son, a fragile mirror to the timeless human struggle with power, identity, and existence. Through the precise performances of Eyal Nahmias, Anatoly Shenfeld, and Adi Bar, and with minimal yet striking theatrical means, Kafka unfolds as a story of pain, longing, and the fragile search for love.

Yossi Yzraeli was born in Jerusalem in 1938, and is an Israeli theatre director, playwright, poet, and educator. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Israeli theatre. He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, holds a BA from the University of Bristol, and earned his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, where he focused his research on the work of Yevgeny Vakhtangov, particularly the production of The Dybbuk.

In 1965, upon returning to Israel, Yzraeli directed Utz Li Gutz Li at The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv, which became a major success, and was performed 267 times. Over the course of his career, he directed plays in leading Israeli theatres, including Waiting for Godot (1969), The Bridal Canopy (1972), and A Simple Story (1979) at Habima National Theatre, presenting original and innovative interpretations of both classic and Jewish texts.

Yzraeli served as artistic director of Habima National Theatre from 1975 to1977, and of Jerusalem Khan Theatre from 1984 to 1987. He was a full professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Tel Aviv University, and also taught at Carnegie Mellon University. He published several volumes of poetry, including The City Engineer (2001) and Migraine Siren (2002).

Throughout his career, Yzraeli received numerous awards, including the Kinor David Prize for Directing, and the Ibsen Medal from Norway. His contribution to Israeli theatre is marked by a unique blend of teaching, directing, writing, and artistic innovation.